Beth and the Mistaken Identity

De: Alicia Cameron

Narrado por: Helen Taylor

Beth Culpepper is a lady's maid who is mistaken for a lady!

Cast off and stranded at an inn in the way to London, she doesn't feel strong enough to dispute it. The handsome Marquis of Wrexham mistakes her youthful appearance as that of a gently bred schoolgirl whom he feels impelled to help. How did a good girl, proud of her position as lady's maid to Miss Sophy Ludgate, come to this? Easily - for as Beth reflects: "To obey or not obey Miss Sophy was bound to lead to this. For Miss Sophy was a devil."

The marquis's sister, Princess Emmeline (a widow of the ruler of a small European principality) further mistakes Beth's identity, believing her to be her former mistress, Sophy Ludgate. Having once seen her on a shocking trip to Vauxhall Gardens, Beth denies it, but accepts the escort of brother and sister to London, where she hopes to seek employment.

Wrexham, lured into more gentleness by assuming Beth to be younger than she is, finds himself shocked to be feeling quite so close to a young lady who soon tells him she is 19. Could this protective feeling she aroused in him be more?

Once in London, there are reasons that the marquis and his sister will not release her, and she finds herself a guest in a great house - where she nevertheless finds the household in turmoil. Although terrified of being discovered, as a pretender, she finds herself poking her nose into matters that might not concern her. Her humour and goodness make a bond with her hosts, and this just increases her guilt.

Meanwhile, Sophy Ludgate is making mischief elsewhere. What else can she do that threatens Beth?

Will Beth be exposed? Will she manage to escape into the evil streets of London, where respectability seems like an unreachable goal for a maid who has no character from her mistress? And can she ever recover from her fatal attraction to a man so far above her that it is impossible to even consider it?

Despite her panic, Beth tries to be of use to the marquis and the princess, feeling closer to them each day, while knowing that her day of judgement is coming soon....

Since Clarissa and the Poor Relations, Alicia Cameron's first Regency romance success, her subsequent work has been translated into many languages, and has been on Amazon Bestseller Lists in several countries.

©2019 Gerry Cameron (P)2019 Gerry Cameron

Delightful!

A few unfortunate technical issues in the first half of the book kept this from being five stars in all categories. It may be that some unedited audio files were accidentally used instead of the final versions. That being said, the story was clean, creative, and fun. I also enjoyed learning more about old “friends” from Clarissa and the Poor Relations (the book that first introduced me to Alicia Cameron). Love the narrator’s performance despite the technical issues in this audiobook. A fun few hours. Highly recommended!

Would have been a 4* except...

I received this audiobook for free; my opinions are my own.

The story switches back and forth between Beth & Sophie. I really disliked Sophie and didn't care what was happening with her, causing me to skip all her sections. Beth's story on the other hand was sweet and I really liked her relationships with the various other characters.

As other reviewers have pointed out, there are a few technical issues; but they didn't keep me from enjoying Beth's parts.

Note: for those who are sensitive to such things, one of the side characters had an abusive husband; there aren't many details given, but she is still struggling emotionally.

My least favorite Alicia Cameron

I have Alicia Cameron's other novels and have really enjoyed listening to them. I like that her stories are "nice" with amusing dialog and sweet romances, very much in the vein of Georgette Heyer. This story is a little bit more unlikely for the time period than her other books and as a result, I am having a hard time finishing it. There are also a couple of editing errors in both the writing and the audio production that are a challenge to get past in the beginning of the book. 1. In the first chapter the narration moves from one character and setting to another so abruptly I had to go back 3 times to figure out what was going on. There are a few of audio repeats that are small, but should have been caught.

(4.5 stars) - A Cinderella-flavored romance

Beth is a lady's maid caught between a rock and a hard place when she is set up & fired for her mistress's sins. When she is mistaken for a lady by a marquess, romantic complications ensue. The story was very enjoyable & the narrator did a fine job!

*Romance level: sweet kisses, nothing graphic

Sweet

It was difficult in the beginning to keep track until I realized this had switched to a secondary storyline. It was especially confusing because a key character’s name in each story line sounded similar (Ernestine and Emmaline). Once I was familiar with the differences and the purpose for the back and forth switching, it became easy to keep track of and easy to figure out how it was probably going to come together in the end. Though the plot was simple, I always appreciate clean stories filled with good characters worth knowing.